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2016.01.10_The Greatest Commandment

in 2016 Lord's Day, Ki Dong Kim

Senior Overseer Ki-Dong Kim

Outline

[Matthew 22:34-40]

God

is righteous.
He
gave faith to mankind (Jn 3:16),
and thereby revealed
His righteousness (Mt 23:23).
God’s purpose of creation is for His righteousness (He 1:2-3).
Thus
to know the righteousness of God
is equivalent to knowing God (Jn 17:3);
to abide in His word means
to be the righteous man (Gal 3:11).
Since He sanctified us from our past sins,
now we must put on the Lord Jesus, who is God’s righteousness (Rm 13:14)
God’s righteousness is not about a philosophy,
but a commandment that needs to be put into action (Mt 22:37-38).
The greatest of all the commandments is that of love (1 Co 13:2).
To obey the commandment
is the way to seek God’s righteousness.
Jesus Christ is the righteous one,
so too is the man of the Holy Spirit.
○He who has faith has righteousness,
and such is the one who fulfills righteousness.
He is the man counted as righteous.
○Faith overcomes a multitude of sins and prevails,
and true love
is to abide within God.
○Only the one who loves God
and loves his neighbors in truth
fulfills righteousness.

※Let us put on righteousness.
Let us put on Jesus.
Let us become God’s holy saints.

Summary

We became righteous through the righteousness of God
God is righteous. Even though nobody has ever seen God, God revealed His righteousness to the world. God’s righteousness is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the righteous one who revealed the righteousness of God to the world.
All men are sinners. Man’s sin can be classified into original sin and personal sin. As it is written in the Bible, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps 51:5), every man is a sinner before he is born into the world. Even a newborn baby who has never committed any sins is already a sinner. To put it simply, man is unrighteous. Faith is the only way through which the unrighteous man can receive the righteousness of God. We repent in order to cast off our unrighteousness and rely on the righteousness of God which He wants to put on us.
It was for our unrighteousness that Jesus died on the cross, and it is through the righteousness of Christ that we were made righteous. Jesus died for us, and because of Jesus we were saved. Thus we received the righteousness of God, not by our own deeds or efforts but as the gift of God. Romans 5:20 says, “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more”. This does not mean we should commit more sins in order to receive more of God’s grace. Instead, it means that grace abounds to the same degree that we realize our sins. Through grace, we were made righteous. Hence if God deems anyone as righteous, he is a righteous person. God justified us as righteous people, and sent the Holy Spirit to guarantee this.

God commanded the righteous ones to fulfill righteousness
A commandment drives a person to fulfill righteousness. We discovered new rules to life after we received Jesus Christ, which we were formerly unaware of. To obey God’s commandment is the way to follow the righteousness of God. The righteous keeps God’s commandment, whereas those who are not righteous do not keep His commandment.
In the Old Testament times, the commandment was within the Law. But there were such a considerable number of commandments that it was very difficult for a person to keep them all. The number of commandments increased as each prophet made further interpretations of the Law. This is similar to how a tree has a trunk, parent branches (thick and closer to the trunk), and lateral branches that come out from the parent branches. Though there are numerous commandments, their roots are the Ten Commandments. The first commandment is to serve no other gods apart from God; the second commands us not to make an image in the likeness of any creations; the third commands us not to take the name of God in vain; and the fourth is the commandment to observe the Holy Day. All of these commandments demand one thing: to love God.
In the case of the Catholic Church, changes have been applied to the Ten Commandments. The Catholics took away the second commandment which forbids making images of any creations and worshiping them, and instead split the tenth commandment about coveting one’s neighbors’ possessions into two separate commandments. As a result, the ninth commandment in the Catholic version of the Ten Commandments says that one must not covet his neighbor’s wife, while the tenth commandment forbids coveting one’s neighbor’s possessions. This is how the Catholics justify making images/statues of the so-called “saints” and bowing before them.
God gave His commandments to man so that he obeys them. However, it is certainly difficult for a person to keep and obey every single one of the many commandments. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of all of those commandments once and for all. This can be likened to a tree which someone cut down completely, where before, people tried picking off individual leaves. Jesus, who took care of the Law for us, now has a commandment which He wants us to keep. And that is, to love God.

Love
The one who loves God is the righteous man. We did not love God because we were unrighteous in the past. However, Jesus bore our unrighteousness through His death on the cross. We have united with Him. Therefore His death became our death, and by His resurrection – the resurrection of the righteous one – we were made righteous.
To love God means to seek God’s righteousness. The Lord said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt 6:33). If we seek God’s righteousness, that is, if we love God, He will provide us with everything we need. God did not spare His own Son but gave Himself up for us all. Will He not then give us all things freely along with His Son? However, if a person still cannot receive God’s help, it is probably because he does not acknowledge that he has God’s righteousness.
What is the degree to which we should love God? Every person loves his own self, his own body without having to be told. This is how it should be with our love for God. We must love God with all of our heart, all of our life, and all of our soul, just as we love our own self. And likewise love our neighbors also. When an expert of the Law asked Jesus, “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment”, Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
It is written in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love”. Those under the Law obeyed God because of their fear of God. However now we keep God’s commandments, not because we fear God but because we love God.
The reason people are self-conscious to give offerings at church or give out of compulsion is because they do not love God. On the contrary, a person is able to gladly dedicate their offering to God for the kingdom of God because he loves God. Sincere dedication is not possible when a person only has fear towards God. Giving offerings to God out of thanksgiving for His grace is a privilege of a person who loves God. It is also out of love for God that people are able to devote themselves in serving and performing their duties as given by the church.

Fulfill righteousness by keeping the principle commandment
There is an enormous number of commandments in the Bible, and Jesus said that all those commandments hang on the principle of love (Matt 22:40). What is a principle? For instance, the public often frown and grimace at today’s politicians and the endless fighting and hostility between the ruling party and the opposition. Strangely enough, even a well-respected person in society starts to conform to such political behaviors. There is a reason for that. Every political party has its own principles, and members of those parties are bound to follow those principles. In the same way, whoever believes in Jesus must keep His commandment, the principle of which is love.
We must love God and our neighbors with all of our life. None of us knows when we will depart from this world, for even a healthy and fit person can lose their life instantly from a car accident. One thing we have to understand is that our time on the earth is our only opportunity to love God as much as we want. To His believers, Jesus gave the new commandment to love one another, and emphasized that the way to fulfill all the commandments is to obey the new commandment. We must have love for righteousness. We have to love the Lord. We need to eat and drink of the Lord, put on the Lord, and thus transform ourselves wholly. The one who has faith has righteousness, and whoever has righteousness will strive to fulfill righteousness.

Semuon’s Letter

Throughout my lifetime, I’ve seen numerous presidents come to power. They left their marks in history despite great resistance and opposition. However, no president takes office except that God permits him so, for presidential power is not a personal right but a president is a father-figure to the whole nation. We learn from the Bible that any person who resists the king is subject to God’s judgment. As a driver behind the wheel needs to stay awake in order to steer and drive the vehicle properly, the same goes for the authorities in the world.

There were times when I expressed disfavor and disapproval towards some presidents, but I was just being arrogant. The world is still cursing God and persecuting Jesus who came to save humanity. Those persecutors who oppose God think they are being clever, voicing themselves and provoking each other; however God is blameless. Nevertheless, the world is still full of hatred.

Whose side am I on? There is none but Jesus Christ, His Son whom God loves, and the Holy Spirit alone testifies to Jesus and cherishes the truthful life He led. For this reason, I will have nothing but cursing if I disregard Jesus and the Holy Spirit; indeed my life will be cursed and so will my soul. Thus my trust is in everything Jesus said and revealed about God the Father; I testify to Jesus Christ whom I know and believe through the Holy Spirit.

The reason I celebrate my life is, despise being renounced and persecuted severely in this world, I do not take offense at them. It’s because I know God and the One He sent, but they don’t. For that, I truly thank God. I am not god, but a man of many flaws. Thus I am filled with much shame, and yet I put my trust in Jesus Christ. In this world, I might be humiliated, shunned and rejected; yet I exert everything I am to receive a warm welcome into the kingdom of heaven.

Through the path stained with His blood, I am walking through the Holy Place and drinking the new water that flows from the Rock – Jesus Christ. No friend have I in this world, but I thank God for the Lord is my friend. Even if I lose everything in this world, He will reward me on that day I stand before Him. Will I be able to get through this New Year? Will I be given another year to live? I don’t know, but I do know that each and every day is very precious to me.

For my soul, I must make the most of the time I have left. For I received His great commandment, I have to fight and overcome myself until I fulfill that commandment. Thank God for everything.

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

2015 Audio

2015 Video

Credits

2016.01.03_Let Us Keep the New Commandment

in 2016 Lord's Day, Ki Dong Kim

Senior Overseer Ki-Dong Kim

Outline

[John 13:31-35]

God

is the Father of Jesus Christ.
For He
placed mankind
within Jesus Christ (Jn 14:20),
faith means
to abide in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is our Lord (Mt 16:16-18)
and we are His true disciples (Jn 13:35).
His disciples
do what He commands (Jn 14:10-12);
they ought to obey His commandments.
Though mankind was put to death by the Law,
he received new life through Jesus (Rm 8:1-2).
Thus man must give all of his might to become a disciple of Jesus
and keep the new commandment
which is greater than the Law.
Though we died according to the Law,
we must testify before God
that we are made alive through the new commandment.
The Holy Spirit helps those who keep the new commandment.
○For the new commandment is more fearsome than the Law,
if one does not accept the new commandment,
he does not have life.
○Whoever does not keep the new commandment
cannot become a disciple of Jesus,
but a messenger of unbelief.
○Let us love one another.
Let us console one another
and bless the redeemed souls.

※To keep the new commandment is not the Gospel
but the duty of those who believe in the Gospel.
Let us love and love one another.

Summary

Through Jesus Christ We Know that God is Love

God is the Father of Jesus Christ. As no one has ever physically seen God or heard His voice, even if one claims to have seen God, that would just be his own subjective story. However Christians are not people who believe in superstition that professes the existence of something non-existent and bow down to it. Though nobody has ever seen God, by believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Christians know that God the Father of Jesus Christ exists and thus trust in everything God does.

Jesus is a man born from a human body. He came in the flesh into history; he is not an imaginary person invented by people. However we believe Him as the Son of God, and thus are certain that God, His Father exists. Whoever believes Jesus Christ as the Son of God receives the forgiveness of sins through His grace and His merits, as well as testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning his faith.

Jesus was able to send us the Holy Spirit from heaven because He had been glorified. Two thousand years has passed since the ascension of Jesus, and even now the Holy Spirit is descending upon those who believe. Those who received the Holy Spirit experience His gifts and power, and cast out demons in Jesus’ name. How clear is this testimony? Nevertheless, it is most dreadful that people’s hearts are hardened and still refuse to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

In 1 John 4:8, it says, “God is love”. This does not mean that the idea of love is God, but rather, it means that everything which God does that we experience is demonstrated as love. The picture of God’s will which man is able to perceive is the fact that God is love.

Jesus met the requirements of the Law and gave us a new commandment.

The Bible is made up of the Old and the New Testament. At the heart of the Old Testament is the Law, and for the New Testament, it is the Gospel. The Law was given through Moses, while the Gospel came through Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Jn 1:17). However both the Law and the Gospel are God’s words. Although the Law and the Gospel are differentiated as the first and the new covenant, the foundation of them both is love.

The principle of the Law is love; however, the Law cannot save man. The purpose of the Law is to bring man on his knees before God and confess that he is a sinner. People come to realize they are sinners before God through the Law. And anyone who confesses himself as a sinner is subject to a curse as the price of sin. Therefore, if anyone is under the Law, he is under a curse (Gal 3:10). Does that mean that a person who does not know the Law is free from the curse? By no means. Whether or not they know the Law, both will still perish (Rm 2:12).

The person who is honest before the Law confesses, “I am a sinner!” and kneels down before God. It was for someone like this that Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross and fulfilled the requirements of the Law. The Law demands the wages of sin, which is death (Rm 6:23). Jesus bore this burden for mankind, and hence saved those who were under the Law.

The foundation of the Gospel is also love. However the outcome of the Gospel is very different to that of the Law. God gave us the Gospel in order that we may receive eternal life. And on this, Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16).

The world refuses to believe in God’s word, nor accepts the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They defy God with man’s ideas and knowledge. They say that talking about demons in an age of advanced science and technology is foolish. However Jesus said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Mt 12:28). Demons relentlessly bring devastation and hindrances to man. But how amazing is it that we have the power to overcome them? By this, God seals and testifies to our faith.

The foundation of both the Law and the Gospel is love. The purpose of the Law is to bring man to repentance before God, whereas the Gospel brings blessedness to the souls that have repented. Christian faith life is not about bearing both the burden of the Law and the Gospel. As Jesus already carried the curse of the Law, we do not need to any more. However now we need to bear the new commandment Jesus gave us.

We all understand how serious a commandment is. When people disobeyed the commandments under the Law, they were cursed on the spot. Hence, they were always trembling because of their fear of death. But the new commandment of the Lord is far more fearsome than the Law. People tend to take the Lord’s new commandment lightly although they fear the Law. However the difference between the Law and the new commandment is not in the weight of authority. The difference lies in the fact that it is not possible for man to keep the first commandment, whereas with the new commandment, it is possible. Despite this, if we do not keep the new commandment, there will only be terrible consequences.

God said to those who were under the Law, to love God with all their heart, all their mind, all their soul, and all their strength, and to love their neighbors likewise. But now, He commands those in Jesus to keep the new commandment. What is the new commandment? Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (Jn 13:34). The Bible says, though we give to the poor or lay down our lives for others, without love, it profits nothing (1 Co 13:3).

Let us love with the heart of a mother.

Many people tend to perceive love from an emotional standpoint. However, love is not an emotion. Love is maternal love. It is like how Mary, the mother of Jesus loved Him with all of her heart, all of her life, all of her soul, and all of her strength, knowing that He is the Son of God. Even when the disciples who promised to follow the Lord to the end all left Him, His mother stood by His side even to the place where He was crucified. God loves us with the same heart. When God gave us Jesus Christ, He loved us with all of His heart, all of His mind, all of His life, and all of His strength. Hence, just as Mary became the mother of the Son of God, we too should become a mother to God, serving Him with all of our heart, with all of our mind and with all of our soul. We must have maternal love towards God. And in the same way, we have to love our neighbors with the heart of a mother.

What good is it to say to a person who is starving, “Oh dear, you must be hungry! Go and get something to eat”? What is the use of saying, “You look so cold. Put on something warm!” to someone who has nothing to wear? If we were their mothers, is that all that we would we do? A long time ago in Korea, lepers used to go from house to house begging for food. People treated them with disgust, and threw their leftovers at them in order to get rid of them fast. Yet if we were their mothers, we would not be able to treat them that way.

It is with a mother’s heart that we have to evangelize others as well. We need to have the eagerness to serve them and evangelize with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. How great is a mother’s patience? Is it possible for a newborn baby to survive in this world if it is not for the mother’s patience and perseverance? Mothers take in all of their children’s outbursts and tantrums, whilst making every sacrifice for them patiently. This does not even mean that their children appreciate what their mothers do for them. Nevertheless, mothers feel bad when they have not done much for their children. When we teach the souls at church and perform our duties, we must do so with a mother’s heart. We ought to uphold the kingdom of God with a mother’s heart.

Let us become the true disciples of the Lord by keeping the new commandment.

Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35). The word saint means a holy disciple. The Bible differentiates Apostles, saints, and those who call on the name of Jesus (1 Co 12:1-2). Are you a saint, or a religious person who only calls on Jesus’ name? We must not depart this world as religious people, but become disciples of Jesus. Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed” (Jn 8:31). If anyone wishes to become a true disciple of the Lord, he must abide in the Lord’s words as his own dwelling place. He must keep the new commandment of the Lord.

Everyone in our families should become disciples of Jesus, including our children and our relatives. A disciple upholds and keeps his master’s teachings. Recently on the news, we hear reports about students assaulting their own teachers. Similarly, how many people these days claim to be saints yet treat God with such contempt? We have to love God, and love our neighbors likewise. We cannot stand and watch our neighbors going down the path of destruction. Could we possibly leave them in that state if they were our own children? We are disciples of Jesus. Therefore, we must keep His new commandment.

Semuon’s Letter

By no means, does my act of resignation imply any form of surrender or discharge, but rather, the acknowledgement of a lost opportunity. Thus, I do not accept the idea of relinquishment, for I have tried so hard to live a life of following through with all the virtuous/valuable motives I have cast.

On the day that my dreams to enter into Junior School crashed, I had not dismayed, but instead acknowledged my loss of an opportunity and re-positioned my tread to find another sequence of steps I could take. In light of this, I was constantly in deep contemplation as to how I can earn enough finances to pay through school, such that I considered everything I did to be something worth learning. I had not shown carelessness or negligence in any of the works I did.

Whilst working in someone else’s farm, I had made the habit of trying to understand the concepts of each activity I performed. Thus, in regards to how much I had learnt and known, my one-year’s worth of work felt as if I had been there for 20 odd years. Fortunately, this behavior of mine from the past has become truly helpful to me in my ministry, both in speaking and in writing. In this way, wisdom rises from the roots of all that we do.

Where there is no basis, there is no fruit. It is meangingless. Before I had become a servant of God, I was but a human being, a purposeless mass of flesh. I had not the reason to live, instead, I lived for I lived, and this became the only reason for my fight against death. Nevertheless, it was all for the flesh. It was after I was swept by the powerful grace of God that I came to know the purpose of my life, and for this, I run and I fight.

Even beautiful flowers have a basis, a root, and likewise, only those plants that have this basis will bear fruit and remain living. This is what we call nature. I, too, have a natural self, and a spiritual self. The former will eventually return to the dust, whereas, my spiritual self will rise to enter the Heavenly Kingdom. This is truth. In light of this, I have a firm understanding of nature and truth. From my body comes literature, and from my spirit comes truth and the gospel. Thus, in knowing that my body will return to the dust, I hope to do all that I can before the day comes, protecting and loving all that is precious to me, whilst I hope to do the same for my spirit, of doing the best that I can for all spiritual works.

As I embark on a life of developing these two characters, I remember the words of Jesus’ teaching, “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”. The Bible teaches that those who are trustworthy with worldly wealth are people that can be trusted with true riches. Indeed, he will be trusted with many important responsibilities. As for me, I, too, have endeavored to live as such.

Oh! My Lord, I wish only to become a humble servant, ready to do Your will.

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

2015 Audio

2015 Video

Credits

2015.12.27_The Fullness of Him Who Fills All in All

in 2015 Lord's Day, Ki Dong Kim

Senior Overseer Ki-Dong Kim

Outline

[Ephesians 1:15-23]

God

is the Creator.
He
created something out of nothing (Gen 1:1),
He can make His creations disappear,
He can have them destroyed forever,
or preserve them forever (Jn 15:1-7).
This is
all in accordance with God’s will (Mt 6:10).
The Church
is the body of Jesus Christ (Eph 1:22),
and He is the head of the Church.
Therefore,
just as Jesus died and rose again,
God wills likewise
for His church.
Everything is perfect
when the Church, our family, and souls are made perfect in Jesus (Ro 12:2);
everything will be prosperous when they are filled with Jesus.
This is
God’s desire.
○I wish you will be made complete through the Word.
Be perfect, just as the Word created all things
and made them perfect.
○God wants
everyone in Jesus
to be resurrected like Jesus.
○Do not be a religious person of self-cultivation,
but rather be born again through Jesus
and receive His blessing.

※To distance oneself from church
is an act of denying what must be fulfilled in him.
Thus be filled with His fullness.

Summary

We are the church chosen by god

God is a creator who created all creatures. We have never seen God with our eyes, but know and believe in God through all of the creatures made by God. The people in the world call these creatures ‘nature’, which means, it exists by itself. However, there is nothing that can exist by itself in the world. Whatever is seen and not seen, God created all.

Someone thinks that faith is a self-discipline in church. However, the self-conviction of a person is clearly different from faith. Faith is what we believe about God, clearly knowing who God is. It is impossible to know God with knowledge, science, and human civilization. We are able to know God only by God. We are able to know God only by the wisdom and inspiration that God gave us. (Ephesians 1:17)

God calls the people who believe in Him together instead of neglecting them. ‘Ecclesia’ is a Greek word meaning ‘Church’; it has the meanings ‘call’, ‘gather’, and ‘choose’. Church is what God chooses the people who hear God’s calling and gather. Today we have become believers because God called and chose us, not because of ourselves or our conviction.

Even though we diligently develop ourselves physically and mentally, it can’t please God. Self-discipline is suffering. Religions of the world demand the suffering. They don’t have grace. A religious man is interested in denying himself and increasing the level of morality in oneself through suffering. However, man doesn’t have the ability to deny himself. Only the blood of Jesus can deny the sin that we committed, and only the Holy Spirit can make us became a new man.

Jesus is the head of church

Church is the body of the Lord and the Lord is the head of church. (Ephesians 1:22~23) The head is smaller than body, but the head has thoughts, knowledge, and emotion. The head commands all parts of body after seeing, hearing, thinking, and judging.

Death in medical science is not a stoppage of the heart but a stoppage of the brain. A doctor pronounces a person dead when the brain stops even though the heart of patient keeps beating. Death of the brain is the same as death of the whole body. If Jesus, who is a head of the Church, is dead by crucifixion, we are dead. And if Jesus, who is a head of the Church, lives, we live as well. Jesus Christ and we are one. As a body moves according to the decision of the brain, the church works according to the commandment of Christ.

A church that follows the whole will of God is a church that follows the commandments of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to this world and shed blood by the will of Father. His blood makes us holy, and he gave us the Holy Spirit after His resurrection. He gave us the Lord’s word and makes us realize the Lord’s word. The Lord’s word realized by the Holy Spirit is truth. When we listen to a sermon in a church, we shouldn’t judge it with our common sense or reason, but should believe with the Holy Spirit. We have to be holy by that blood because the Lord told us to be holy by that blood. We have to be filled with the Holy Spirit because the Lord gave us the Holy Spirit.

Each person who is a part of church has to deal well with one’s share

Church is the body of Christ and a saint is a part of that body. The body of man includes eyes, nose, mouth etc. If whatever among those things can’t afford to deal with their share, the whole body is affected. Like somebody whose eyelashes pierce their eye repeatedly, and their eyes are puffy from crying, may get surgery. 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” As we are a part of Christ, unless we deal well with our duties, we will be in shame in front of him who judges us and angels on the last day.

A person may start their spiritual life after others as well as before others start. A person, who believes in Jesus for a short time so far, has to look at the people who started their spiritual living first and learn from them. The longer the length of their spiritual living, the more trained people are, the more leadership, and the better church duties. A person who imitates their spiritual elder is able to deal well with one’s share.

As we are a part of body of Christ, we should reflect on ourselves about whether we offer something useful to church. The Holy Spirit came into us not for rest, but in order to lead us and for work. The Holy Spirit works where Lord’s word is. If a person who believes in the Lord’s word receives the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the person suddenly will be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit and obey the church by dedicating themselves in such a great manner that can’t be understood in the world. However, there are people who would not be of help to the church even if they have received the Holy Spirit.

Those who dedicate themselves to the church and those who don’t, everyone will be separated like chaff from grain. Even though a fish has already entered into a net, the bad fish is thrown away. (Matthew 13:47~48) Jesus said that heaven is like this. Chaff and grain can be in a same field, but they must be divided in a threshing floor.

2 Corinthians 6:14~16 says, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God” As God has said, each of us is a holy sanctuary. We should build ourselves, taking precaution like building a house with gold and striving. (1 Corinthians 3:10~15)

Each person is a part of the church of Christ. So how do we act? Why don’t we try to make ourselves who are a part of body of God more beautiful, but try to trim our nails that rot off? The church can grow and glorify God when all of the saints are intact as the part of church.

Church is a blessing

God created all creatures for his Son. The reason why God fills all in all is for his Son. Eternity is in the Son, authority is in the Son, and the glory of God is in the Son. The Church became the body of the Son. Therefore, the Church is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:23)

Everyone wants to be blessed. When the people hear the word “blessing”, they think of happiness of the body. However what we need is an eternal blessing. We have to bless the church and work together in the church in order to receive that blessing. That is because church is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. When we fulfill the responsibility of the church, God responds to our prayer. If we truly want to be blessed, we have to be deeply associated with the church. The closer a person is to the church, the closer to a blessing, the farther from the church, the farther from a blessing.

The blessing of Him who fills all in all is given only through the Church. The blessing given outside of the Church is not the blessing of God but just the culture of the world. The Holy Spirit is the full blessing of Him who fills all in all, which means, the Holy Spirit makes the blessing of Jesus come upon our soul. Let the blessing, which the Father allows by His Son, come upon our soul and family by obeying the lead of the Holy Spirit.

Semuon’s Letter

Though I labour in Christ, I am not a god. Though I perform signs and wonders, I am not an angel. I am but one of the many workers of Heaven. Nevertheless, I have come to recognize that there is no greater joy than of knowing the glory I shall receive. I am not a god, for I am of flesh, and though I perform the powers of Jesus’ Name, I am but a living form.

I have a wife, whom I love. However, I, too, possess memories of my first love, and of an unrequited love. I, too, have stubborn curiosity, temptation, emotion and cunningness. There have been many tasks I have performed out of hypocrisy, and there are many tasks I often wish would elude me. Nevertheless, my passion to follow Jesus’ teaching is incomparably greater. At times, I must be as shrewd as a viper, others, as pure as a dove.

But Jesus was above all, at the forefront of my life, and He became everything to me. My faith, and will to my security, He became it all. Had I no will, I would surely have collapsed along the way, and become no more of this world than the past. Instead, by protecting my will, I came to realize that I was like a clay bowl. Once broken, eternally broken.

However you see it, the world is but a drifting fog of memory. You cannot take it with you, and neither can you remember each and every moment that has dissolved into the past. After the world and everything in it fades into a forgotten memory, I will eternally rest in Paradise, where I will wait to rise again on the last day, and reign with the Lord. Surely, I ought not to curse my spirit with the small things of this world.

It’s not that there is no path in life, but it is contained in the Bible. Likewise, our daily bread is also within the Bible. If only we actively seek and try, the former and latter will be found by us. Thus, I furiously live my life searching the Bible. Every day is like that of a ginger miner, who actively and endlessly searches for wild ginger. How exciting this is.

Though I am but one living form, God is the Creator of Heaven and earth, and He continually teaches my unsearchable things. Had I walked this path alone, I would have tasted the failure that follows an endless maze. But instead, I have come thus far by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, I am blessed, and I earnestly pray for its furtherance. For my all is to please the Lord, I had searched its means by waking the dawn of each day with my fervent prayers.

In no time at all, my strength has begun to fail me, and my eyes, die on me. Nevertheless, I endeavor to use them for the Lord’s work, for they are, in essence, for my soul. With all that I can, I will draw the Lord’s attention. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints”. Hear, this is my lifelong wish.

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

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